Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Murano Italy: The "heart" of glassmaking! Next week I leave home to go to Murano for a glass class with Lucio Bubacco. Lucio is well known for his glass figurines.

Murano is an island off of Venice. Historically, this is where glassmaking started its modern techniques. In 1450 A.D. Angelo Barovier discovered how to make a clear soda glass, Crystallo, on Murano. This glass was used for making glass containers for alchemists and eventually turned into the development of Morretti glass which continues today on the island of Murano. There is a good article on the "History of Art Glass Lampworking" by Robert A. Mickelsen if you want to know more.

I don't know if I will be able to upload photos to my blog that I take while in Italy--we'll have to see as I am not bringing my own computer. If so, I will post some photos as I go along.